Check your baskets but not your bets
The topic of whether to allow users to check bets before they place them has come up a few times and often the arguments spread to the wider e-commerce world. Checking the contents of your basket before you make an order is common practice, especially for complex orders. Recently, one of our clients decided to remove the confirmation step from the checkout process to make it shorter, under the premise that “shorter checkout processes are better”. This is not a given and removing the confirmation step can, in some cases, negatively impact the user throughout the process and create ill feelings towards the brand.
Take two examples. The first one involves buying a satellite TV package, broadband and monthly phone rental. Here the ‘basket’ contains not only 3 different types of products, but also installation dates & times, direct debit details, etc. The order is so complex there needs to be a step where users can confirm all the details. The second one involves applying for a loan. We recently tested a process that was so simple and short that users were left with a feeling of insecurity. “It was almost too easy” they said. When it comes to online banking, short and simple processes are not conducive to a trustworthy experience, even for reliable brands.
There are, of course, situations when we may want to order in one click, in particular if the order is simple (1 or 2 items) and/or the basket contents are always visible. This is particularly true when we already trust the brand and have an account with them (e.g. Amazon, who provide one-click purchases as an option).
The other example is betting. In a world where urgency matters, for example in the case of in-play betting, wasting valuable time to check your bet is the last thing you need. In addition, most online sportsbooks have permanent bet slips, which are in fact permanently open ‘baskets’, with their contents permanently exposed.
Recently, I went to place a bet on a site that is not my main account (where checking my bets is not part of my betting process). I wanted to bet on a horse in a race that was about to start and only had a couple of minutes to do it. However, as I am used to betting without checking I didn’t complete the process and didn’t realise it. Two steps – adding bet to slip and clicking on main call-to-action – were all that I was used to doing every time I placed a bet. I never placed my bet (it was stuck in the confirmation stage) and I lost a winner. This doesn’t mean that online sportsbooks should remove all checking options from their sites. There are, after all, very complex bets – accumulators and mixed bets – that may need confirmation by some more cautious punters, even if they can be seen on the bet slip. However, checking your bets should not be default, it should be given as an option, ideally as an account setting with added options were punters can choose to check all multiple bets or all bets above a certain total amount, for example, but not check single and small bets.
Confirmation and checking steps in the wider e-commerce world should be considered in light of order complexity, basket visibility and whether the context is particularly security-sensitive. But when it comes to betting, urgency matters and defaulting all bets to be confirmed every time provides an experience that is the antithesis of what betting should ‘feel’ like.